


Turn The Lights On

by suyari



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Canon Death, Healing, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Drift (Pacific Rim)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 20:35:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1360870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suyari/pseuds/suyari
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Knifehead, the Gage Twins do their best to help Raleigh heal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Turn The Lights On

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a Tumblr Prompt: After Yancy dies, the Gages visit Raleigh in the hospital.

There is nothing but screaming for ten whole minutes. Yancy is shouting into the comm and Raleigh is crying out in agony as Gipsy's arm is torn away. Bruce and Trevin know that pain well, and what it does to a co-pilot when their partner's body is alight with convulsive pain. The lock of muscle, the rattle of the drivesuit against the stabilizing arms, the clench of teeth and the jerking of their diaphragm. The stabbing pain slicing through your brain as nerves fire off in sympathy. The race of one mind to the other, calming, soothing, comforting...Yancy had been distracted. And then he was gone. After Raleigh's soul wrenching "No!" there had been nothing but grunts and yells and the final effort of 'I am taking you with me' mentality Rangers were trained to default to in such situations.

Raleigh had released his battle cry, thick with Yancy's loss, and emptied the clip into Knifehead. Because the comms had been fried, no one had known what had become of him until later that morning, which had left Bruce and Trevin unsure of whether to mourn or hope, feeling guilty both ways.

"Again."

"I don't think-" Tendo says, but Trevin reaches past him and flips the switch.

"You're _torturing_ yourselves," he protests, and they ignore him.

Raleigh had been expecting to die - that much was obvious. That he hadn't...That Yancy _**had**_...Trevin rubs his eyes again and blinks back the weariness. Across from him, Bruce is reading the results again, but Raleigh is stable - like it or not - and there's not much that can be done for him. Not while he's in the coma.

The coma is a blessing as much as it's a punishment. While he's in it's grasp, there's the chance that Raleigh is safe and comfortable. Somewhere where he can still reach out and meet Yancy halfway. But the longer he's in it, the less likely it is he'll wake. They don't know whether they want him to or not. Don't know if it's because of cowardice, guilt, or love. They know which outcome they'd prefer if they were in his position.

But, they've already failed him once, and they can't bear to do so again.

It's Tendo who realizes they have to trick him. The answer is a sour weight in their stomachs and at first they refuse to allow it. But the Marshall _won't_ lose them both, not if he can help it and he orders them to try.

Tendo doesn't look at them as he presses the button. No one speaks as Yancy's voice echoes in the hospital room. They've carefully edited the tape, drawing from television coverage and the Beckets own personal video files.

"Rals!" Yancy shouts, playful and fond. "Get up! I can't believe _I'm_ awake before you! Get your ass up, kiddo! You have to see this!"

It makes them all sick to their stomachs, but fifteen minutes later, Raleigh responds. His neural activity jumps toward consciousness. It's torture, and they hate it, and they will never, ever forgive any of them - including themselves - for doing it to him, but they run the tapes for three whole days. Three days of giving Raleigh false hope. Of seducing him from the other side. Stealing from him any comfort he may have found in the coma.

The day Raleigh wakes, Bruce stabs the button viciously, ending the lies. It's little comfort. The blonde rasps, " _Yancy_?" before his eyes even flutter open.

The doctor insists no one respond to encourage Raleigh fully awake. They're all forced to stand around in silence and watch him struggle to regain control of himself.

"Yancy?" he calls again. His eyes blink open and he looks around, peering through the slits of his eyelids. No matter how he focuses though, he can't seem to make anything out.

"Ranger Becket," the doctor says softly, approaching his bed. Raleigh jerks and tilts his head, listening for the doctor they all suddenly realize at once. "Do you know where you are?"

"Hospital," he grunts, and it's laced in pain. They'd taken away all of his medication in an effort to get him to respond, and it's readily apparent that as his system comes back online, the pain is too great. "Where's....Yancy?"

The doctor looks to them then and the twins are united in their desire to punch the coward in the face.

Bruce is the older brother - who can't bear it any longer - and he crosses over. His gait is steady, leveled by endless days of grief and anxiety. "Hey, Raleigh," he says, crouching down beside him.

"Bruce..." Raleigh rasps. And suddenly he knows. The monitors reflect his understanding, alerting and recording.

"I'm sorry, Raleigh," Bruce says so gently as Raleigh begins to sob loudly. He strokes back his hair. "I'm so sorry."

And he is. They both are. There is nothing they can ever do to undo their mistake. Yancy's death is on them. Raleigh's injuries are on them. And their loss...the loss they can barely allow themselves to fathom...can never be repaid.

Bruce reaches down and lifts Raleigh up so he can't choke, drawing his limp form to his chest and pressing his face into his hair. He closes his eyes and holds him. Trevin very firmly escorts everyone out and locks the door. The doctor protests, there are threats about the Marshall being informed, but they are past caring.

He picks up a chair and sets it beneath the door handle. Pushes a storage cabinet far enough to barricade what's left. And goes to them.

Bruce holds an arm out without even looking up. Trevin slips against Raleigh's side and wraps his arms around them. Raleigh cries. He screams. He makes himself sick.

He calls for Yancy and tries to get out of bed, but he's too weak and injured, and they will not let him hurt himself further. They have to tell him there is no body to mourn, and Raleigh wavers between hope and rage. There will never be closure for him. They hate that most of all.

Hours pass but the Marshall never comes. Raleigh doesn't sleep, but he quiets, exhausted and numb. They unbarricade the door, demand he receive morphine, and sit with him as the pain lifts and leaves him alone upon a precipice. He doesn't go under until they lay down on either side of him.

They don't let anyone nearer than medically necessary. They don't get back in Romeo. They haven't been officially grounded, but they ground themselves. Eventually Stacker comes to speak with them. He tries to reason with them, but Rangers are, in their purest form, the backbone of the entire organization. They cannot be forced - despite what anyone may think - to climb into a Jaeger and enter a neural handshake if they do not wish to. The lack of will alone made for horrible control, and while they remain compromised, there is nothing anyone could do.

Stacker doesn't like it, but he doesn't have to like it to endure it. He can order them barred from Raleigh, but he wants him back in fighting form as soon as possible. Herc Hansen's son is already slated for testing. They don't have the luxury of waiting. The Hansens are on their way from Lima, where Chuck works his father's crew - a Ranger in his own right, but one without a co-pilot. Separate testing has proven a nintey-eight percent chance of drift compatibility. Stacker is so sure that getting Raleigh back in drift will even him out, will bring him back to them. Sure enough that he is willing to put a fifteen year old kid in a conn-pod with him.

They ask for leave. For themselves and for Raleigh. The Marshall grants it, warily and with ultimatums. But he allows them to take the younger Becket with them when they leave.

It is important that they draw Raleigh out first. Protect him as best they can and keep him as far from the PPDC as possible. Which is why the moment they have him in custody, they bolt. Stacker has them tracked down of course, but by then, Raleigh is already up and moving around. The fact that he's responsive at all saves their asses. But, there is again, a price.

Chuck Hansen is escorted to their house and left on the doorstep. He's a resilient kid, and it doesn't seem to phase him all that much. They set him up in the room next to Raleigh's and decide to leave it all to chance.

At first, Raleigh doesn't quite know what to do with Chuck. They tell him they're watching Herc's kid for a while while the Icebox gets itself back into order. Chuck helpfully doesn't mention the real reason, but he watches Raleigh closely. Armed with an abandoned kid, Raleigh takes to Chuck right away. It's almost confusing the complete one eighty he performs. Chuck - who at a glance doesn't seem to be the type easily assuaged - eats up the attention.

It takes them a week to realize that Raleigh and Yancy were to Chuck what Bruce and Trevin were once to the Beckets. It hurts to be reminded, and worse to see the bond grow between them. Chuck doesn't know who to blame for Yancy's death, but he seems to decide early in it isn't Raleigh. And Raleigh, with a hole the shape of his brother in his life, fills the need with Chuck. The connection is instant and immediate, solid in a way they'd have never thought Raleigh capable again. But, as always, the Marshall knew what he was doing.

Chuck wheedles Raleigh into going back to the Icebox, and the Gages can't stop him. They follow along, nervous and unsure. They know what will happen when they all arrive and they fear Raleigh will take it badly.

Surprisingly, the surviving Becket doesn't put up as much of a fight as the entire 'Dome had assumed. He takes one look at Striker Eureka - sleek and proud - and whistles in appreciation.

"Wanna hop in with me?" Chuck asks, casual as you please.

"Sure," Raleigh says, and half the people in attendance openly gape.

Herc slings an arm about Raleigh and says, "Watch out for this one. His head's full of nonsense."

Chuck hisses, "Dad!" angrily, and gets his hair ruffled affectionately.

"Don't worry Chuck," Raleigh soothes him. "Mine's no better."

Chuck reaches out and takes his hand. "It's gonna be alright," he says with startling maturity.

Raleigh smirks. "We'll see what you have to say after I know everything about you."

Chuck flushes slightly and clears his throat.

No one dares laugh, but it's interesting to note that Raleigh has noticed. It's a good sign. An indication that he's moving on, and they realize abruptly that they have not.

Raleigh has a minor panic attack when the conn-pod seals, and LOCCENT wants to pull the test.

"Give him a minute," the twins say.

Inside the conn-pod, Chuck is talking to Raleigh softly. His mic is off, as is Raleigh's, but Striker is digital, and LOCCENT has ways.

"Dad?" Chuck's voice finally comes over the system.

"Yeah, Chuck?"

"We're ready."

"You sure?" he asks, concern for his only child peaking through the calm, professional veneer.

"Just start the test, old man!"

LOCCENT goes quiet, bodies still, frozen at controls.

And then Raleigh laughs. He laughs and laughs and people start to slowly relax. "Tendo," he says after a few minutes.

"Yeah, Becket Boy?"

"Start 'er up!"

"Yes, sir!"

They watch the levels even out. Chuck and Raleigh are compatible and their drift is strong. Tendo keeps the feed locked so no one knows what they're saying - if they're talking at all. But, Striker's fist meets it's palm and the Gage Twins breathe again.

It's as if a weight has been lifted, and they lean into one another in relief. There's still a debt owed, and they plan to devote the rest of their lives to paying it off. But, Raleigh's in better hands now. Complete again. And Chuck, they know, won't give him up without a fight.

Yancy is still looking out for all of them.


End file.
